Newcastle United have the best man for the job in Rafa Benitez, with the man looking to drive them further towards the Championship claiming if he can't save the Toon no-one will.

Benitez was the shock appointment to replace Steve McClaren at St James' Park last month, the Spaniard going from managing Real Madrid at the start of the season to attempting to stave off the drop on Tyneside.

Coupled with a £28m January spending spree before his arrival, it convinced many the Magpies were set to pull off a great escape.

But with just one point from four games – including defeat to fellow rivals Norwich – means failure to beat Swansea in Benitez's second home game will leave them struggling to have any hope of clawing their way towards top-flight security.

Yet Guidolin, who has crossed swords with former Napoli and Internazionale boss Benitez during his time in Serie A, reckons Benitez is the best man for the job – even if he is refusing to go easy on him today.

“Newcastle are a big club, they have good players but I do not know what has happened. It is not a surprise because football is difficult,” said Guidolin of Newcastle's plight. “I have seen many things in my job over 41 years and nothing could surprise me anymore.

“Newcastle are a big club and I consider Rafa an important manager, a good manager. I know him, he’s a good person and I hope for him Newcastle stay up - but Saturday is an important for match for us too and I hope to see my team play like last Saturday.

“This is football. Rafa is a good person, a gentleman and I met him many times in Italy. It is a difficult job for him, as it would be for any manager in this situation.

“But Rafa is a positive person and he will believe he can keep Newcastle up. They have a very, very good manager to help them through this period and that is very important because they still have the possibility to save themselves.

Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea City scores his team's first goal during the Barclays Premier League match between Swansea City and Chelsea (Image: Alex Morton/Getty Images)

“But our focus is on ourselves, not Newcastle. If we beat them it is good for us to look up.”